Abdel Nasser summons him to perform in front of “Nehru and Tito” … and Sadat asks him at the opening ceremony of the Suez Canal in the presence of the Shah of Iran.
Captain / Hussam Rustom.
“He gave his life and his love to preserve the heritage of our ancestors, the riders who cared for the care of horses and the owners of the foundations and rules for training and disciplining horses.” This is the late Hajj Zakaria Othman, who is considered one of the elites who included the elite of the people from northern Egypt to its upper parts, and a prominent name in the world of folk equestrian and literature The horse.
It is noteworthy that among this the golden generation are families: “Al-Jayyar from Kom Hamada, Al-Barayka and Abu Jaziya in Al-Gharbiya, Radwan Bilal in Al-Monufia and Muhanna in Al-Beheira, Saleh Zaghloul in Dakahlia, Ghurab in Giza and Hussein Mahjoub in Beni Suef.
These families devoted all their efforts and spent a lot to prepare a distinguished horse with a unique and integrated physical composition, in addition to high-end training capabilities that cannot be criticized.
Othman’s relationship with horses began from a young age in the Governorate of Sharkia, until he moved to Cairo, where the first horse to acquire was called “Shahba” in 1955, the price of which was 40 pounds, and that amount was large at the time, so that the golden age of folk equestrian arts began until the mid-eighties.
Othman and his fellow knights, educators and trainers were the first to be called with their horses to inaugurate the agricultural exhibition on the island and in the celebrations of the feasts of the revolution, the nationalization of the Suez Canal, and many national and religious events, and with a summoned from the office of the late President Gamal Abdel Nasser to perform a presentation of Arabian horse literature in front of the presidents “Abdel Nasser, Nehru And President Tito ”, until he became a major component of the reception programs for heads of state.
On the occasion of the reopening of the Suez Canal after the “6th of October 1973” war, and the holding of a solemn ceremony, President Muhammad Anwar Sadat requested the presence of Hajj Zakaria to perform, with his horses, the most beautiful performances before the Shah of Iran.
Haji Zakaria Othman remembers the old days, remembers and praises the training giants, including Haji Muhammad Abu Marra, the Sarhan family, Hussein Sarhan and Ahmed Heshmat, who left imprints so far to guide the current trainers in their training for their horses, although there is a difference in the capabilities, especially in the cost of preparing the horse for literature, where the trainer’s salary was For a year, the horse had 30 pounds, and the trainer used to move to the horse and stay next to him. Now, the trainer’s salary ranges between 3000 to 5000 pounds per month, according to the trainer’s fame, as the horse moves to the trainer. According to one of the articles of Captain Hussam Rostom, the owner of the passenger farm, Khanna
Captain Hussam Rostom adds, that Hajj Zakaria Othman explains the rules for choosing the horse to perform “literature”, as there must be elements of beauty and safety of the physical formation and the completion of public health with the expansion of the chest area, the strength of the neck and the integrity of the four legs, as well as the psychological formation of the horse represents important elements, Where the horse should be heading to the performance of literature happily, joy and passion, and the horse must be present and intelligent, in addition to good manners and the absence of bad habits, and the appropriate age for the start of training is 3 three years.
“As for training methods, there are no typical approaches to teaching a horse about literature, but it is inherited from ancient times, but it must be taken into account that it forces a dancer to dance using the whip, and therefore Hajj Zakaria Othman rejects violent methods in training as he refuses to use tools that bring pain to the horse and considers that the element The key to training success is patience and a lack of urgency, so that the horse does not get bored and lapsed.
The late Hajj Zakaria is considered one of the prominent arbitrators of literature matches. He is distinguished by justice, patience and experience, and he also enjoys the respect and love of all the knights of literature in Egypt.
Othman focuses on several points in his judging:
The regularity of the square movement with the convergence of the heights of the four horse’s legs in a row with the regularity of the rhythm and that the horse performs these movements laughing and not frowning or nervous as the position of the rider on the horse and its seat and its riders and the extent of its stability inside the saddle have special consideration when judging, then the number and intensity of the horse represent the honorable facade For the rider and the owner of the horse, what is required here is safety and cleanliness of distress, and neither wealth nor financial value is required.
Haji Zakaria Othman won hundreds of awards and certificates of appreciation, whether at the level of the Republic or Giza Governorate, but his biggest prize is the love and respect of people.
Captain Hussam Rostom continues: “We were surprised that there is a federation of rural clubs affiliated with the Ministry of Youth. One of its most important concerns is the popular equestrian activities such as horse literature, woodworking and hekash. It has a headquarters in Qasr al-Nil Street .. and it had a major role in Egypt’s official festivals such as the Revolution, Eid Al-Falah, the fulfillment of the Nile We must ask … why did this activity stop … and how to restore this heritage again … and how to preserve it. ”